


Stand By You

by flareonfury



Series: first words spoken (can open a heart) [6]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Episode: S01E09 Blood Bonds, Episode: s01e08 Hostile Takeover, F/M, Pre-Relationship, Slow Burn, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:14:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24064147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flareonfury/pseuds/flareonfury
Summary: Takes place during episode 8 "Hostile Takeover" & episode 9 "Blood Bonds" and is a Soulmates - First Words AU for Kara/Maxwell.Kara and Maxwell finally speak after she gets her powers back.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Maxwell Lord
Series: first words spoken (can open a heart) [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/553414
Comments: 15
Kudos: 28





	Stand By You

**Author's Note:**

> First I have to say THANK YOU for all the lovely reviews (and kudos of course) on the series so far, they really motivate me to keep writing and no matter how long it takes me I'm going to try to keep going with this series. ;) I've been adding and tweaking this since the last one was put out but it wasn't until the last week or so that I could completely focus on it. I think I'm getting to a point where I have a little more life than just working and I want to spend most of that time writing because I seriously miss it. Also my goal for the rest of 2020 is to write more - so if anyone had any Kara/Maxwell suggestions or plot bunnies that they want to see happen please let me know (in the comments or I'm on flareonfury@tumblr and LiveJournal). It doesn't matter if its for this series or some other non-related one. 
> 
> Most of the dialogue you may be familiar with is part of the Supergirl episodes of "Hostile Takeover"& "Blood Bonds", mostly thanks to subtitles. As I stated before, I want to stay as close to canon as I can BUT NOW IT ALL CHANGES. Or at least for things I twist.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Supergirl or any of these characters.
> 
> Title refers to the song "Stand By You" by Rachel Platten, mainly because I was listening to it and a few of her other songs to get inspiration to finish this part.

* * *

“You need at least a few hours of rest to recover.” Alex states firmly, Kara turns to listen to her and she laughs.

“Now is not the time to big sister me, okay?” Kara says in a huff.

“You’re no good to anyone if you go out there weakened and she kills you.” Hank says, in complete agreement with Alex’s assessment. “Go home. Sleep. Knock her on her ass another day.”

“Will you stop handling me?” Kara can’t believe the two of them, she had taken on a lot more when she was injured – this was nothing. The kryptonite didn’t affect her for long enough to do permanent damage. And with the extra boost that being in Maxwell’s presence earlier still affecting her, she feels perfectly fine to go after Astra right now. “It’s my job to stop her…”

“No. It’s not.” Alex interrupts. “It’s Hank’s. Tomorrow. Come in and we’ll spar to make sure you’re ready, okay?”

Kara stops, with the smallest acknowledgement she could gesture, Hank smiles and walks away. Kara studies their interaction and suddenly something clicks with her. They were too much in sync – more so than she has ever seen before, Alex was hundred percent backing Hank and Hank was hundred percent backing Alex, more so than usual – especially with the suspicions of Hank and Alex’s father. She can’t help but feel faintly betrayed that something was going on between the two of them. Some secret that she doesn’t know. “You two seem pretty chummy.”

Alex sighs, “We were wrong about Hank. He didn’t have anything to do with my dad’s death.”

Shocked, Kara utters “How do you know?”

Alex closes her eyes in exhaustion and Kara knows immediately that she’s going to keep it a secret. “Just… I do. Trust me.”

Kara agrees, and at Alex’s suggestion of grabbing pizza and potstickers had Kara’s stomach rumbling slightly. Her Kryptonian hunger was back and in full force. However, Kara immediately declines and says she already had plans. Nothing pre-approved by her sister, but definitely something she had been thinking of since speaking with Cat Grant and before Astra had attacked. She needed to speak with her soulmate, and she wanted to do that more than eat or try to relax at home before work.

“And what do you have planned?” Alex asks as they pull up to the exit. “Please take it easy Kara; you literally just got your powers back and…”

“Alex, its fine, I just need to talk to someone before tomorrow.” Kara said, hoping her sister would leave it at that and after a moment Alex nods. Something seemed off with Kara, but at least she seemed stronger, however she doesn’t want to push it especially since she knows Kara will follow her instructions of taking it easy. At least for tonight anyway, tomorrow was another thing entirely.

“Just call me if you need me.”

* * *

Kara flies to above Lord Technologies and stays hovering for several minutes before working up the nerve to listen for her soulmate. She finds him in his office, with most of the staff already gone for the day, with a few stragglers getting ready to leave. The pull to be with him gives her encouragement she needs to land on his balcony. The balcony door was already open and she steps silently through the entrance. Unlike the last time she was here, she wasn’t angry (at him anyway) and the enticing lure of being in the same room as her soulmate soothed most of the anger at Astra and the hurt of the kryptonite further away. 

“I was wondering when you would show up.” Maxwell says with a smirk as he glanced up at her, he immediately knew she had been close and he couldn’t help feeling pleased when she landed on the windowsill. He hadn’t been sure if she would appear tonight or if she would disappear from his sight for a few days. He stands up as she steps in to his office and gestures to his bar, “Did you want a drink Kara?”

Kara wants to make a joke about the drink being poisoned, but after everything that’s happened today, she doesn’t want to put a negative spin on this moment. Instead she nods, and Maxwell fixes her and himself with a half cup of whiskey each. She comes up close to him and studies his movements – not in fear of being poisoned but simply to watch her soulmate. This time, there was no pretense in avoiding her touch, as Maxwell hands her the cup both let out deep breaths of relief as their fingers touch.

“How long have you known?” Kara manages to question after taking a sip of the alcohol. Earth alcohol doesn’t affect Kryptonians, but the burn of whiskey wasn’t one of her favorites. But she needs some of the human liquid courage right now even if it was all in her head, it didn’t hurt to try.

“I could ask the same thing,” Maxwell said but he shook his head. “Not as soon as I suspect you knew.”

Kara bites her lower lip to keep from apologizing. She wants to, wants to apologize for taking so long to accept this soulbond, but she wasn’t ready for it. Neither was he. She still wasn’t sure if they were both ready to accept this. However, he knows her secret identity now and there was no getting around that. And as far as she knows he hated Supergirl – maybe partly because she didn’t confirm they were soulmates. She wouldn’t be completely surprised if he would use this to his advantage.

“I’m sorry,” Maxwell states at her continued silence. She glances up at him in shock; the last thing she expected was for Maxwell Lord to apologize. He smiles softly as he continues, “I haven’t been a very good soulmate, have I?”

Kara lets out a huff of amusement, “Neither have I. I should have come to you sooner; maybe everything would have worked out better if I had.”

Maxwell shook his head, “And maybe it would’ve been worse. I wasn’t exactly in a good headspace right then. And I can’t exactly blame you for keeping a distance.”

“What is your plan?”Kara can’t help but ask the fear of her secret identity getting out appearing again but despite that she had no fear he would not answer or lie to her. It was an odd feeling, but her instincts were telling her to trust him - despite the past. The small smile Maxwell had disappears and he takes a long swig of the whiskey.

“Plan?” Maxwell is unsure of what her question is concerning and the uncertainty that abruptly appeared on her facial features sparked the pull to touch her again, to relieve her of any and all insecurities she might have of him. He can’t pinpoint the exact moment he started to accept their bond, but he can pinpoint the familiar feeling he was having right now - the same pull that had him embracing her out on the street, it was both a peculiar feeling and highly addictive.

“My secret identity?”

“I can’t very well expose my soulmate, now can I?” Maxwell stated, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. At her startled look, he smirked and continued, “but I do wonder how you hide it so well from your boss. I would think Cat would have sniffed it out by now.”

Kara let out a laugh at that, and most of the tension in her body slowly fell away. “Hey, the only reason you know is because I revealed myself in front of you. I’ve been really careful in not telling Ms. Grant or changing in front of her.”

“As soon as I looked into your eyes, I knew who you were.” Maxwell revealed softly, and Kara stared at him in shock. He enjoyed seeing her like that, and he couldn’t hide his amusement in his next question. “Are you telling me you regularly interact with Cat in both identities and she can’t tell that you’re Supergirl? I’m assuming she had more run-ins with you than I have.”

“How?” Kara started before shaking her head. “I wear glasses and I wear my hair differently, plus she doesn’t really look closely at me at work.”

Maxwell can’t help but laugh at this, only the glasses and hair style is hiding her secret identity from the social media queen. He can’t wait to lord this over Cat Grant once she finds out the truth. 

“Thank you, by the way,” Kara said as his laugh settled, at his questioning gaze, she continued. “For that hug earlier, I have a bad feeling I wouldn’t have gotten a jumpstart on my powers if you hadn’t and I would not have been able to save that man. And thank you for not revealing my identity to everyone.”

“So I had helped you then?”Maxwell had been theorizing this since the moment he left the scene. He hadn’t understood the weakness and restlessness when he hadn’t been in Supergirl’s presence or how that same weakness and restlessness was gone in it and now those feelings seemed to be completely gone. He’s felt stronger than ever. In all his recent research about soulmates, he had not read about this tidbit of information. Humans didn’t feel such weakness in rejected, unbounded or separated soulmates. Alien soulmates and soul bonding are currently unknown, however – there were just too many species and not all of them are forthcoming in their genetics or cultural differences. Supergirl is a Kryptonian, an alien from another planet – a dead planet with very few Kryptonians actually left. He knows about the physical differences, it wouldn't exactly be difficult to imagine differences in soulmates as well.

Kara couldn’t help but smile at his interest, he seemed generally interested to know and she can’t help but enjoy his general need for knowledge. She could imagine him on Krypton; he’d enjoy the knowledge, the science and the advanced technology, and she had no doubt he’d be popular among the other scholars just as he was on Earth. At that thought, however, it flashes back to Astra up on the roof with the kryptonite knife. Her smile disappears and Maxwell can’t help but notice her thoughts had strayed from their conversation. She seems less passionate right now, and he can’t help but miss the fight in her stance or words. He can’t get over the feeling something other than him learning about her secret identity is bothering her.

“What’s happened?” The question leaves his lips before he could think of something better, or something that would change the subject and bring it back to them. She looks up at him, noticing the genuine concern in his voice, and all she wanted to do was tell him the truth even with what happened between them what currently feels like months ago but was in reality only a few weeks. Kara finishes the rest of the whiskey in her glass and sets it down on his desk before leaning against it.

“How much do you know about Fort Rozz?” Kara questions, wondering how much information he had managed to glean from his connections. It wasn’t exactly public knowledge, but she had little doubt he’d learned about something dealing with it.

“An alien prison system that landed on Earth, most of the prisoners had escaped. Although the prisoners seem to be showing up a lot more recently. It’s a government black site, no clue where, though I do have some suspicions.” Maxwell admits, finishing his own glass. Kara nods, she had a feeling he would at least know the basics.

“The prison was a Kryptonian maximum-security prison and was used for the worst criminals. On it was…” Kara pauses and closes her eyes; she hates the idea of giving him a reason of concern. She hates that he’ll have the confirmation of a Kryptonian criminal and all the fears he had for her and her cousin. She hates the fact that it was her aunt. “… A few Kryptonians - including my aunt, Astra and her husband Non.”

“Well your family is full of surprises.” Maxwell states dryly, trying to take in what she was saying and what she might not be. It doesn’t bring a smile to Kara’s lips but she looks a little more relaxed, and he gestures for her to continue. He understands her reservations, she’s giving him exactly what he had stated or implied multiple times in interviews of what could come, a Kryptonian criminal. 

“My aunt was involved with several extreme crimes, including one that killed a guard. On Earth, she’s kidnapped and attacked my sister and me,” Kara explains softly. The pain of her aunt doing this is still hard to take in. Growing up, she loved and respected Astra and felt more connected with her than often her own parents. “Tonight, she attacked me with a kryptonite knife and wants me to join her side.”

Maxwell bites off the question if she was alright or not. Maybe physically she was, clearly not so much mentally. She seemed less hopeful than he’s ever seen her. The fact that she was divulging this much information to him, even if they were soulmates, seemed odd but he’d take anything. “What exactly is her side for?”

“Astra and her husband, Non, along with their various Fort Rozz followers seem to believe that the humans are destroying their planet and want to take over to help save the planet. It’s exactly what happened on Krypton before they got arrested except now because we’re on Earth, they have powers. And they have these suits that protect themselves from kryptonite and I don’t which gives them an advantage.” 

“So she wants you to join their crusade of world domination.” Maxwell says - his fears of aliens were coming true as he knew they would eventually. He knows she probably didn’t understand some of what he’s been saying on the media, but this was exactly what he was afraid of… and not something he’d let happen. This was exactly why he had started working on anti-Kryptonian and other anti-alien weaponry, so that the humans could hold a chance. Now however is an added fear of something happening to his soulmate - the idea of the others having a way around kryptonite which is one of the only things that could hurt her was almost painful. He needed to figure out how they were doing it and recreate it for her.

Kara nods in answer, not knowing what else to say. She wasn’t about to defend her aunt to him, she knows Astra is in the wrong and should not be trusted. Hell, she would be out there trying to find her right now if Hank and Alex hadn’t told her to wait. She told him the truth, told him exactly what he’d feared about for ages, and it was happening right underneath his nose. She feels better and worse, and she has no idea what to do next.

“What is your plan?” He repeats her own words back at her, bringing her attention back to him. She studies him, and he seemed tenser than he had been, but not by much. Clearly the news hadn’t shocked him completely and nor did he look at her any differently than he had since she arrived tonight and she can’t help but appreciate it. He did seem to want another cup of whiskey if his not so subtle glance to the bottle had anything to say. She brushes past him, but not before grabbing both glasses and bringing them with her. 

“Stop her.” Kara says simply, almost tiredly, as she pours two full cups of whiskey for them.

“That seems fairly simple,” Maxwell said sarcastically taking his glass from her, his statement was something she could imagine him saying to her, especially after the last few weeks of throwing biting comments and quirks back at each other. She lets out a sigh at his reaction, and half wishes the cup of whiskey did do something for her. Kara has a feeling a lecture was going to happen any second. “You have no plan on how to find and capture her?”

“Honestly? Nothing concrete… it’s not like we’ve been able to find the place they’ve been hiding out at since she first revealed herself, but I have a feeling she’ll show up again, much sooner rather than later.” Kara admitted quietly, taking a sip of the whiskey. “I’m ready to give her everything I have and more to stop her. I won’t let her hurt another person.”

He takes a large gulp of whiskey, trying to let the soothing burn of it relax him. He knows how strong, how determined his soulmate – maybe not as personally as her sister does – could be. He has little fear that she wouldn’t do exactly what she said. What he does fear is that her personal feelings for her aunt might get in the way of putting everything she has to defeat Astra. “Your government pals backing you up?”

“The DEO?” As his eyebrows were raised in curiosity, Kara ducks her head away from him, realizing her mistake. He didn’t know who the DEO was, just had believed that Alex was part of the FBI. “Department of Extra-Normal Operations, it’s a government organization that monitors extra-terrestrial presence on the planet.”

“So the Men in Black rumors are actually real, good to know.” Maxwell states with a smirk, and Kara can’t help the amused laugh at his words. 

“Yes! Right?!” Kara says. She’d had the thought before, but never voiced it out loud to her sister or to Hank. She had a feeling they wouldn’t exactly appreciate the comparison. And she can’t help be slightly satisfied that her soulmate had made the connection immediately. “They are definitely backing me up.”

“Look, you know I don’t exactly trust the government and I’m sure you’ve put a lot of trust in them, especially since your sister Alex is clearly part of it but I will back you up as well.”Maxwell promises, and before she could say anything in return, he continues, “I know I haven’t given you much to trust in, but I said and did a lot of things I will no doubt come to regret. However, some of things I said are coming true – not of you in particular – but of another alien invasion. This time Kryptonians, however small the invasion, it’s still an invasion and you might get angry at this but I do have some weapons I’ve been testing that could help stop them. I know you might not believe me, but just think about it - humans need to be able to handle disasters on our own in case you or Superman could not be there or happen to go rogue. It’s been known to happen, maybe not in your case so far but other superheroes or aliens have. But I will back you up, just give the word and I’ll come.”

Kara doesn’t know what to say or think. The fact that Maxwell wants to back her up pleases her more than anything – especially after everything they’ve been through together. But the anti-Kryptonians weapons he’s talking about? Did she really want to test them on her aunt? No, never. But she knows how stubborn her aunt is, how scary and determined Non could be, and if she can’t defeat them – if she can’t defeat them, than would she want Alex, Maxwell, and the others to be able to defend themselves against them? Of course. But how can she condone this? But then, the DEO did have Kryptonite related weapons as well, how can she condone one but not the other? 

In the end, she can’t help but put her trust in her soulmate. “I’ll be heading out after work to find her. I’ll let you know if I need you.”

He smiles, pleased that he does have her trust, however small it might be. He sets aside his drink and grabs a pen and the small notepad off his desk. He writes his personal cell on it, and rips the piece with it off and hands it to her. She tucks it away in a small pocket Winn had added to the supersuit, and takes the pen and paper as she hands him her drink and writes her own cell phone on it even though she knew he was resourceful and probably already had gleaned the information from somewhere else. It felt like another act of trust, and she can’t help but be a little satisfied that they’ve come this far. With the way the things started between them, she had feared this moment might never come.

* * *

“Alex, we have a huge problem.” Kara answered the phone, walking back into Cat’s office. Cat Grant knows she’s Supergirl, she could hardly believe this was happening. Within seventy-two hours, two people have learned her identity and her sister didn’t even know about the first person that learned it yet. There just was too much going on earlier. And the irony that her soulmate pegged the fact that Cat Grant would learn her identity is not lost on her.

“Lord Technologies is under attack.” Alex states quickly, barely hearing her sister’s greeting. She knows whatever problem Kara was dealing with right now was not as important as learning her soulmate was in danger.

Kara immediately runs out of the room to change into her suit and take flight towards Lord Technologies as soon as the coast was clear. She has a bad feeling that she knows exactly who was attacking, and she was not going to let Non hurt her soulmate.

Despite flying as fast as she could, the DEO agents were already there and being attacked from Non and small part of his army. She arrives just in time to stop Non from blasting her sister and soulmate with his heatvision – slamming him against the floor away from them. She doesn’t let herself stop and worry about them. Not now. She focuses all her anger and power on defeating Non.

As they break away in the air, Non smirks with disgust. “You remember me, little girl?” 

“You’re Non. Astra’s husband.”

“To think you’re the last daughter of the once great House of El.”

“You’re gonna wish I’d died with the rest of them!” Kara promises and flies toward him, and him her, they clash with fists, kicks and powers tearing through the ceiling of Lord Technologies and into the night sky above it. A plane separates them only briefly before they are back at it again. In one move she hadn’t expected, Non has tightened his body around hers, squeezing with all his power and experience and brings them down, smashing and destroying the ground around them.

Within seconds of crashing down, Kara is struggling to get up while Non - who had used her as landing cushion - quickly recovers.

“Astra was wrong about you. You’re as weak as any human.” Non states as he lifts Kara up by the throat. She struggles and tries to rip his arm away from it. Before he could do anything more to hurt her, Hank runs out the door behind her and gets ready to fire. Non lets Kara fall to her knees and attacks Hank before he could fire. 

Alex arrives with her team behind her, “Let him go!”

Non smirks as he turns around, holding onto the non-human with his full strength, making the agent unable to fight back – he shoots his heatvision at Alex to get her to back off and flies off with Hank.

* * *

As Kara recovers, Alex brings her back into the building, “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop them.”

“Stay away from up there.” Maxwell Lord’s voice filtered down to them as they enter the large room that the attack took place. Kara tried to ignore starring at the four dead bodies on the ground – at least three DEO agents had been killed and another man in a uniform with the Lord Technologies logo on it, probably a security guard – guilt ate at her for not getting there in time to save their lives. Instead, she takes in the sight of her soulmate – clearly alive and agitated. With what Alex and Winn had told her about Maxwell Lord, along with information she gleaned from surfing the web and his admission the other day, she knows how much he dislikes the government. She hadn’t realized it would extend to them not even being able secure the scene of the attack.

“Max, we need to secure the area.” Alex says, moving closer to the stairs where Maxwell was, watching the agent walk past him. “This is an active crime scene.”

“No, this is my property.” Maxwell stated, gesturing around him as he walked down the steps. Kara’s eyes narrowed in confusion, the other night he seemed so open – willing to help.

“This attack has been traumatic for all of us. They kidnapped my commanding officer.” Alex stated pointing at him, Kara moved closer to them both, unsure of what to do. This is the Maxwell Lord she had first met - closed off, stubborn, unsupportive of Supergirl - not the one from the other night. _Was that night just a sham?_

“I think the days of us partnering up are over, Agent Danvers.” Maxwell stated, before walking away from her and ignoring Kara completely. 

Alex quickly followed him, “At least tell me what the aliens were looking for.” Maxwell let out a sigh as he grabbed his large weapon and Alex stood in front of him again, blocking his path. “Then could you at least help us locate our man.”

“How could I find him? Why don’t you ask your pet alien? As for me, I’ll protect myself in the future.” Maxwell answered her, bringing his weapon up to show her. “Now, get your jackboots off my grounds.” He stated before leaving them alone. 

Letting out a deep breath of frustration, Alex huffed away after sending a pointed glare at Kara, although the gesture was lost to Kara having been studying her soulmate in irritation at his words and actions. _Why was he doing this?_

She wanted to go after him; the lure to be with her soulmate was still pulling her towards him despite his earlier insult. However, they needed to get back to the DEO. The injured and killed needed to be taken care of, and she also wanted a crack at her aunt again. She’d know where they would be holding Hank, Kara has no doubt. She just needs to get through to her aunt. She’ll have to deal with Maxwell another day.

* * *

“Kara!” Winn shouts, bringing Kara’s attention to Jimmy’s laptop. After Kara finished explaining to others the other night’s proceedings, Winn had done a quick search for the morning KPJT National City news, knowing Maxwell Lord would have something to say about the attack. 

“I’d like to address the rumors of an incident at Lord Technologies.” Maxwell states, and as his voice washes over her the earlier agitation at her soulmate’s actions wavers, and instead is placed with nervousness. In interviews, he is never on Supergirl’s side and she is almost afraid to hear his words on what happened last night. It’s one of the reasons why she had avoided him after leaving Astra’s cell. After thinking about his actions and attitude, she should have probably expected them. Since when did he ever take government meddling well? And add in a battle against Kryptonians that attacked him and his workers? She could imagine how angry he’d been. How angry he will be. And he has all the proof to blame Supergirl on the attack and damages to his building. Granted, not all of it was _just_ her fault, but semantics. 

“Oh, this is going to be ugly.” Kara sighs, letting out a large breath. Winn and Jimmy remain silent as they watch.

“We’re the target of industrial espionage.” Kara puts her hand up to her face – confusion flashes across her face as Maxwell continues to explain. She glances over to Winn to see that he is just as confused as she was, although he doesn’t seem as shocked as her and Jimmy. “Thankfully, there were no casualties and those responsible have been apprehended. Thank you.”

“He’s covering up the attack.” Jimmy states. Winn nodded, having already read through the brief written form of the interview, although like the others he doesn’t understand why either.

Kara quickly paused the video and studies her soulmate, “What is he up to?”

“Well, let me see what I can find out.” Jimmy says in answer, as Kara moves away from the video. 

“What? No way. No!” Kara shouts, turning around to face Jimmy. The idea of Jimmy checking out Max was not what she wanted, or needed right now. Especially since she knew nothing would come of it, Maxwell Lord had a lot of experience dealing with reporters – Jimmy would get nowhere with him. Besides she’d talk to him after work, after she checked in with Alex again and see if they hadn’t already turned up something. Maybe she wouldn’t even have to visit him; although she had a feeling if he would talk to anyone it’ll be her. Or at least, she hopes so. A part of her wants to go to him regardless.

“Hey, I’ve dusted off my press credentials.” Jimmy explains, thinking of the impromptu photoshoot and mini interview during the earthquake he’d done with the man. “Kara, he was there when you disappeared and Supergirl arrived. And he didn’t seem as shocked to find you – Kara - gone. He probably had seen something at the accident. That alone should be enough reason to check him out, but between that and now with his reaction to Non’s attack? Let me just talk to him; see what I can dig up. He has to be planning something.”

About to disagree with him again, Kara is interrupted when she hears the elevators moving. Turning to face them, she uses her superhearing to check on who was behind the doors. Cat Grant’s voice. A new kind of panic jumpstarts Kara into action, while normally she’d be just as jittery about Cat Grant arriving for the day, today was especially nerve-wracking. Because Cat Grant thought she was Supergirl. And she had forgotten to tell the boys… 

“Ms. Grant’s on her way up. Okay, um, today we have to seem really, really normal.” Kara explains quickly, adjusting her glasses on her face. “Like, like not just normal- normal, but super-normal. Only, no…” Kara winces at the word super. “No super.”

“Are you having a stroke?” Winn asked, confused at her current freak-out. Cat Grant arriving in the morning was not unusual, and didn’t normally set Kara off in a confused mumbling mess. He glances over to Jimmy, “Is this what a stroke looks like?” Jimmy just shrugs his shoulders, unsure of what was happening either.

Kara winced again, hating that she left this until the last minute. “Ms. Grant thinks I’m Supergirl.”

Jimmy and Winn both exclaim a loud “What?” at her words, shocked at what was happening.

“I will handle it!” Kara promises, “But if she sees us acting weird, it’s gonna blow everything. I just need to heat up her latte…” Kara says, taking off her glasses and putting opening the lid of Cat’s drink, ready to use her heatvision on it.

Jimmy jumps away from the counter he’d been leaning against and closer to her where his work for the magazine and where Kara was at, “Maybe not on that.”

However he was too late - Kara misjudges the intensity of her power and emotional state, and the coffee heats up and explodes everywhere. Both Jimmy and Winn jump back.

“What do we do?”

“That got everywhere.” Winn says blankly staring at the mess, and Jimmy quickly grabs his coffee thermos.

“All right, round two”, Jimmy says trying to calm Kara and pours the coffee into a mug.

“Good idea. Hurry,” Kara says and quickly walks out the room as soon as Jimmy finishes pouring it. “I gotta hurry!”

Winn notices her glasses still on Jimmy’s worktable and picks them up and gestures to them to Jimmy. Jimmy grabs them and quickly runs after her with them. They do not hear Winn’s “Yeah, she’s doomed.”

* * *

When security briefs him of the appearance of Jimmy Olsen taking pictures of the crash site of Supergirl and the Kryptonian known as Non, he immediately sets off to intercept him. He’s been expecting someone from CatCo all day, and the fact that it seems to be the same person Kara Danvers – Supergirl – had been with during his last CatCo interview and knows her secret identity seemed fitting. While he could have pulled some strings with Cat to get him to back off (okay a lot of strings because she’d realize something was up immediately), he had a feeling she wasn’t the one to send him – especially with how he ended things last night – shutting the DEO and her sister down, even ignoring her after the attack. To be honest, he’d been expecting another night appearance by his soulmate to no avail. However, he stands by his actions from last night - he's been the loudest voice against Supergirl since her first appearance. And it was very much implied by Kara that no one knew about their status, and he has to maintain that cover for the time being. Even if it hurt to walk away from her - to not even look at her to see if she was alright. Watching her battle Non was different than watching her other fights and he wasn’t even sure if that was the reason he was so angry after they came back in after Non and his goons left. Seeing her crashing, struggling in his arms. (And he didn’t do anything to help her. That ate at him more than anything.)

He’d been expecting her, hoping a chance to explain… and ask more questions. Instead, it seems she had sent her fanboy who clearly knew her identity to investigate. The spark of irritation at Jimmy was not jealousy… At least not that he would admit to, not even to himself. He had no idea what the aliens were after, unless they knew he and Kara were soulmates he didn’t understand their attack at his workplace anymore than what the DEO probably did. Granted, there are a number of things currently in works at Lord Tech that could be possible targets to an alien army that want to take over the world. He’d already explained to Kara before that he had anti-alien weaponry; however there were many other things she had no idea about. Things he wanted a chance to explain before she found out about them.

“I don’t permit cameras around my research facilities.” Maxwell states, bringing Jimmy Olsen’s attention to his arrival. The bodyguards that the head of security had forced at his side since the attack stayed back, exactly what they were told to do. Jimmy Olsen wasn’t going to attack him.

Jimmy looks back to the security camera on the wall behind him, and grins as he turns back to him as he slowly stands up. “Could’ve fooled me.”

“A man’s gotta protect himself.” Maxwell says, gesturing toward his building before they moved closer to each other. Without having to say anything, the cleaning crew moved further away from them. He made a mental note to give them an extra bonus for picking up on the fact that he wanted this conversation private. 

“Yeah, you said the break-in was the work of “corporate spies,” but I’ve never met any that leave a giant holes in the ground like this.” Jimmy states, moving closer to Maxwell with a smirk.

“You’re here to find out why I said it was industrial espionage when you know it wasn’t.” Maxwell states and at Jimmy’s nod, he takes off his glasses and explains. “I know who your friends are. And I found your association with them rather troubling. Especially considering your prominent role within the media.”

“Well, the media doesn’t exist to make people like you feel comfortable, Max. Our job is to report the truth.”

Maxwell scoffs at the statement, the spark of anger at the man before him increasing. Not only does Olsen has the trust of his soulmate, but is arrogant to think he’s better than him. “What an outstanding job you’ve all been doing.” He claps for Jimmy, and leads him away from the crash site. “Champion low gas prices so we continue to burn fossil fuels. You celebrate pop stars while ignoring corrupt politicians. And you turn pretty blondes who fly into heroes, masking the threat they represent.” The last set of words eat at his conscious – he knows saying this would probably hurt his soulmate if she learned of it, however it was public knowledge he disliked what Supergirl represented. To act or say different now would be too telling. He doesn’t think that Olsen knows he is Kara’s soulmate, but he’s not going to let that secret out here. However it’s also the only hint he’ll give the photographer. They probably never even consider the fact that a pushback to aliens will come, but it’ll come – Kara’s aunt and uncle’s actions will see to it. “But you’ve never been their victim. It changes your perspective.” 

At the glare he receives, he knows Jimmy understands him. 

“What are you planning on doing?”

“What needs to be done,” Maxwell states before gesturing towards the security that had followed them. “My associates will take you back to your car.”

“It’s okay, I know the way.” Jimmy states and leaves his presence, with the two security men following. Maxwell watches him, if he’s learned anything about Jimmy Olsen and the people Kara seems to hang around (and he does despite the lack of time he’s actually spent with her), he bets anything that Olsen’s looking for another way into the building to get the answers he thinks he’s hiding. The last thing he wants is Olsen poking around in his building.

-

She doesn’t mean to listen in on them, but her powers have been a little sensitive lately, and she can’t help but be thankful that they activated after she left them. The last thing she wanted to know was that her friends were going to go behind her back. 

_“He’s planning a countermove towards the Kryptonians.”_

_“Including Kara.”_ Winn’s whisper had her pausing in her footsteps. She knows how weird it looks for her to just pause what she’s doing; Cat Grant is watching her every move now and is waiting for her, but at the same time, she wants to know the truth. She pulls out her phone and pretends to read something on it.

_“Yeah, and I don’t want to give him a chance to hurt her. So, we need to find out what he’s up to and fast. Which is why I didn’t just talk to him when I went down there. I took surveillance shots, so you could help me find a way inside.”_

_“I’m sorry, you want to break into Max Lord’s facility?”_

At James’ hum in agreement, Kara closed her eyes. Not only did she have to deal with General Lane, Astra, Non, Maxwell, and Cat Grant right now, she has to deal with this? Her best friends going after her soulmate? She doesn’t have time for this. This was the first time that she regrets not confiding with them about her and Maxwell. Not that there was a “them” to begin with. _Not yet…_ the tiny voice in her head continued. Shaking her head in annoyance, she continued to listen them.

_“I knew you picking up that camera again was a bad idea. You’re like one of those crazy war correspondents who can’t just stay home.”_

_“Okay. Max Lord is up to something – he has to have seen Kara’s disappearance at the accident. They had been within feet of each other when Kara had disappeared and reappeared as Supergirl. Even Max Lord isn’t that dumb, he has to know. He didn’t seem to buy my story of Kara running off but at the same time didn’t question it. We need to know what he’s planning... to protect Kara. Would you really want Kara to find out that you let me do this all alone?”_

_“Fine, fine! I’ll find you a way in.”_

Taking a large deep breath and grabbing her notebook off from her desk, she’s able to refocus and head towards Cat. She’ll deal with them after.

Except after doesn’t happen, and Cat throws yet another avalanche into her life.

_“So, you either prove to me that you are not Supergirl, or you can clean out your desk tomorrow.”_

If she can’t get Cat Grant to back off about her being Supergirl, she was going to lose her secret identity. She was going to lose her dream job, a place where she feels at home and welcomed by everyone. A place where she belongs and she understands what Cat Grant is trying to do. If she could be Supergirl every second of everyday, she would, but she’s not just Supergirl, she’s a woman that needs choices and freedom. And she needs to protect her loved ones.

* * *

Arriving on his balcony at night seems to happening more frequently, and Kara can’t help the little joy it brings her tonight. Yes, she is angry at him for his words and actions to the DEO and Alex after her and Non’s fight. But she also can’t help but feel thankful that in the interviews since the attack, since their talk, and really since she revealed herself to him there was no trash talking of Supergirl. He didn’t reveal her identity to the masses (nor had he demanded anything from her), and after everything going on with Cat, Kara can’t help but feel thankful at that. Despite the apparent fear of James that Max was making a move against her, she doesn’t have that fear (not now)… because she knows. She knows about the weapons – he didn’t go into detail in their talk but after Alex’s debrief of the attack before she got there, she knows the gun he showed off to them killed one of the Kryptonians Non had with him. So she may not currently know all the details but she’s hopeful that he will tell them to her eventually especially after the night she had. Preferably before James and Winn try their hand at “stealthy” recon too.

“Did your little friend send you?” Her soulmate asks as she enters his office as he pours himself another glass of whiskey. At the question, Kara winces; knowing that she had failed in getting there before James.

“No, of course not.” Kara stated, moving closer to him. “What happened?”

“My security is not only the top of the art, _it is_ the art, despite the fact that whoever Olsen was working with got him in. I managed to stop him before he got too far into the building.” With that he turned around and she noticed his knuckles. They were slightly bruised – bruised as if he got in a fight. With his tie and suit jacket nowhere in sight and his rumbled appearance, Kara could piece together what might have happened. Closing her eyes in anger and squeezing her fist tightly, Kara let out a deep breath to calm herself. Not only did she have to deal with Cat Grant giving her the ultimatum and then the disaster with the soldiers and nearly getting blown up, now she has to deal with this - her soulmate beating up her friend, and her friends going behind her back despite the fact that she told them not to. 

“What did you do?” At Kara’s words, he sighed and kept quiet until he moved closer to her, until he was a foot away.

“I gave him a lesson, hopefully one he would listen to. Although I will give him credit for not ratting out his friend.” 

“He thought he was helping me by trying to figure out what you were planning on using against the Kryptonians. Against me. I think he suspects that you know who I am outside the costume, he’s afraid you’ll use that to hurt me or even reveal my secret to the public.” Kara explained, trying to keep the anger and disappointment out of her voice. He hears it anyway. Maxwell knew she wasn’t going to take kindly to his actions against Olsen, but at the time he hadn’t cared as much. Olsen and his friend insulted him by getting past his security measures – and after the Non attack, he was not alright with letting anyone get away with it, even if it was Kara’s friends.

“And he could have complicated many patents and weapons or more. He was trespassing as well,” Maxwell simplified, “I gave him a warning to keep away. He didn’t listen. Maybe I wasn’t as nice as I could have been, but I also could have done much worse than a broken camera and a hit or two. I could have called the cops and had him arrested.”

“You will not touch my friends again! They are off limits.” Kara firmly states, and Maxwell nods slowly. Letting out a deep breath, Kara moves closer – following the pull that always was there in the back of her brain that wants her to be with her soulmate. She takes his hand and stares at the bruise forming there. It probably wouldn’t be too bad in a day or two if he kept it iced, she thought as she studied it. She almost wishes she didn’t care that he was hurt. But that idea is long dead – her not caring about him. She knows she should have been more worried about James but she knew she would have gotten a worried phone call from Winn if he had been badly injured and she believes Maxwell gave him more of a warning than a severe beating.

“Why did you come here if you hadn’t have known?” Maxwell asks, trying his best to distract himself at how much the touch of her was relaxing and pleasing to him. She had clearly come here for a reason if it hadn’t been for dealing with him about his actions against Olsen.

“You were right about Ms. Grant, she figured it out.” Kara explains, and Maxwell stays quiet as he listens, “Me being Supergirl. The thing is, she wants to fire me because she wants me to be Supergirl 24/7 and thinks that she’s the reason someone wouldn’t be saved. If I can’t prove to her that I’m not Supergirl to her, I’m done at CatCo.”

“And you want to stay working for Cat because?”

“CatCo is important to me – it feels like home, I made friends there and despite all her bark, Ms. Grant notices when I’m feeling overwhelmed or down and she usually says or does something that helps or distracts me. I just… I can’t be Supergirl all the time. I want to have a life, a normal life even if it’s only for a few hours a day.” Kara answers truthfully, “I know I can’t stay there forever, but I don’t want to move on yet.”

“Tell her the truth and call her bluff. Look, in her own way she thinks she’s helping you. But you are literally the only assistant that has lasted as long as you have and if she didn’t like you or respect you as much as she does – you’d been long gone by now. Trust me; I’ve seen it time after time in all the years I’ve known her.” Maxwell states, the hand being clenched by hers twists just enough for him to be able interlock her fingers with his. A sense of calm overcomes both of them at the touch.

“I’ll try it, it can’t hurt, right?” Kara whispers, and Maxwell smirks at her.

“It’s Cat Grant, it’ll hurt regardless. But if you need anything, let me know. A job, a cover, whatever, I’m here.” Maxwell states and the thought of the promise he makes nearly melts her heart but it’s just too strange to contemplate. It’s weird concept that Maxwell Lord is not a complete asshole. If you had told her a month ago that her soulmate might have actually accepted her for who she was, Kara wouldn’t have believed you.

“This is so weird, isn’t it?” Kara asks, looking up into his eyes. She shouldn’t feel this relaxed and happy in this moment. There are a million reasons why, but the feelings won’t go away as he holds her hand. Maxwell makes a small nod with his head, agreeing with her.

“It is. Is this what Kryptonian soulmates are like? From what I’ve read about, this is nothing like a human soulmate connection; the strength that I feel whenever you are close by and the weakness when you’re away. Although since the other day, that part seems to have edged off a bit. The sense of tranquility whenever we’re together seems to have increased however.” Maxwell admitted quietly, he hated admitting to weakness but he has a feeling Kara wouldn’t judge him for it.

Kara nods, “Kryptonian soulmates were extremely rare and because they were so rare, soulmates instantly accepted the bond. I do know that Kryptonian soulmates could not do long distance relationships – that they needed to speak or touch every few days. I hadn’t known about the weakness aspect nor did I know it would get so bad until it started to happen. Honestly I thought that was just a superstition. But it makes sense; our family motto means ‘Stronger Together’. I think it’s why I got so weak after Red Tornado and lost my powers for so long in comparison to Superman whenever he got depowered. The hug we shared seemed to have been a sign of trust or moment of acceptance that the soulbond responded to. ”

“And that hug jumpstarted you?”

“Yeah, I felt instantly better – I could feel my powers come back. Thank you again for that. I know they would’ve come back in time, but I was able to save that man because of you.” Kara admitted softly.

“My pleasure,” Maxwell admits just as softly. “I’m happy you could help him… I know my comments with the media aren’t very flattering about Supergirl, but I do realize that you are helpful. I just don’t think we humans should rely solely on heroes to save us. We need to be able to save ourselves.”

“I get it, maybe not at first but being depowered made me realize that I can’t always help everyone. But as long as I have my powers, I’m going to put them to good use and try to help as many as I can. And as much as it pains me to admit it, you taught me a lot about what I could do.” Kara admits, thinking about all those ‘tests’ he had put her through. Truthfully she would have learned those things about herself eventually but maybe it was a good thing it happened so soon after becoming Supergirl. Minus the Ethan Knox situation of course - those methods were not acceptable. “But please tell me the next time you’re going to test me? Just please don’t make another Ethan Knox happen.”

“I promise,” Maxwell states sincerely, any other time he would have scoffed off the superhero or vigilante’s words, but he believes Kara. She was a genuine superhero; he doesn’t have to be soulmates with her to realize it. “No more testing unless I ask. Or you ask.”

Kara smirks, “Sure, although I’ll have Alex supervise you.”

“Ah yes, Agent Danvers… Adopted sister, right?”

“Yes, she knows you’re my soulmate. She’s the only one.” Kara admits, and he takes a deep breath.

“Tell her I’m sorry for the short fuse I had the other night, I thought it best we maintained the fact that I don’t like Supergirl and we didn’t really have a personal connection. I didn’t realize she knew. Although, I still would have refused the government drones milling about.” Maxwell admits.

“Oh, that was probably smart – I hadn’t thought of that. I should have realized it. I thought you were just upset about the damage the fight caused and I wasn’t sure how you would react to me coming to you after.”

“The only thing that I was upset about was not being able to stop Non for you.” _And not being able to protect you,_ he thought silently. “The draw to be with you is as strong as ever though.”

“I know, the same goes for me. I can’t exactly explain it.” Kara admits as he tightens his grip on her hand. She glances down and realizes they were still holding hands after all this time.

* * *

The past several days were some of the most emotional rollercoaster days she’d had since becoming Supergirl. Between learning about the truth about her mother and Astra, the Cat Grant situation and almost losing her job, learning the truth about J’onn, and accepting her soulmate, she couldn’t help but be a little emotionally exhausted after meeting with J’onn on the roof. She couldn’t wait for the shift to end. Almost as if he could tell, Clark messaged her just then and she smiled as she replied back to him. Jimmy must have kept him updated of the situation with Cat and Astra. After promising to contact him if she needed help, she logged off the computer only to find Winn and Jimmy sheepishly walking up behind her. She smiled softly at the two. As much as she wanted to get angry at how they went behind her back, she knew their hearts were in the right place and the fact that Maxwell seemed to have given Jimmy a busted lip, caused her to mentally wince in guilt. She still hadn’t told the guys the truth. She doesn’t even know how to explain it to them – her soulmate hadn’t exactly given the guys much to support, although prior to her becoming Supergirl Winn had been a fan of Maxwell. She knew it would only get worse if she kept the secret from them. If they wanted to work as a team, than there shouldn’t be any major secrets between them.

“How are things on the Cat front?” Jimmy asks as they reach her desk.

“She came to her senses,” Kara answered with a small chuckle since she didn’t want to giveaway J’onn’s secret. “And so did I. There’s something I should have told you awhile ago.”

“What happened?” Winn questioned quickly. Jimmy glances around to make sure they were alone. Kara does the same, but with her superhearing and x-ray vision. As the last people on the floor, there was no one else with hearing distance. After confirming that they were alone, Kara closes her eyes briefly and took a deep breath quickly. 

“I’ve met my soulmate.” Kara stated nervously, unsure of what else to do but to blurt it out. Maybe Alex and J’onn had a point about her not being able to keep a secret.

Both men opened their mouth to speak, but only shocked gasps mumbles of “Who?” came out. They glanced at each other as if to ask them what was happening.

“When I went to fight Reactron, I was also trying to rescue Maxwell Lord.” Kara continued, “I hadn’t realized what he had said, or him to me but we both eventually figured it out. And it wasn’t until I was depowered that we kind of both initiated the acceptance of the soulbond.”

“Wait are you trying to say that your soulmate is-” Jimmy started, a tinge of disgust and belief in his voice, before Winn quickly finished his sentence.

“Maxwell Lord?”

Kara nods, “Look I know what you guys did – trying to get into his building and I know he hurt you Jimmy. I’m sorry you got hurt and look I’m not happy about it. But I’m also not happy that you did it in the first place. I didn’t want you to do it. Not even just because he was my soulmate and I know he’s on my side, rather or not you believe it, but because you guys went into a potentially dangerous situation without telling me. It’s my fault that I hadn’t told you the truth sooner, and this is partially on me but I need to know when you’re going to do something like this.”

“I’m sorry Kara,” Winn states, his heart breaking at disappointing her and his unrequited feelings for her. Kara nods with a small smile at him before glancing over to Jimmy for his reaction.

“Are you sure? How can you trust him? After everything he’s put you through?”

“It’s difficult to answer, but I just know. I’m not saying it’s a perfect situation and clearly I don’t forgive him for endangering people’s lives or all of his mean comments… but we were both trying to deny the other since the beginning and it just made us weaker.”

“You were with him when your powers came back – and you lost them longer than what you said Superman ever had.” Winn stated thoughtfully, and Kara nodded along with him. “You really are soulmates.”

“Yes, and I know this is unusual situation and unexpected guys… I’m sorry for keeping this a secret but I just wasn’t ready to deal with it.” Kara explained softly.

Jimmy shook his head in disbelief, “I don’t understand – are we supposed to just forgive and forget what Lord did?”

“No… but just give him a chance?” Kara grimaced at her lame reply to Jimmy’s question; she knew it was a terrible cliché answer to give him especially because of their fight. However she wasn’t sure what else to say. The last thing she wanted to do right now was start a fight with Jimmy or Winn. They knew she had no choice on who her soulmate is, and unlike human soulmates – she couldn’t exactly decide not to be in his life. She had enough proof of that.

“I’m going to keep an eye on him.” Jimmy stated, before leaving them abruptly. Kara quickly stood to go after him, but Winn stopped her. 

“Look I get why you would hesitate to tell us and I won’t blame you for it. However, I think you should let him go for now. I think we both need some time to think.”

Kara’s eyes widened, a new fear appeared in her eyes at his words. “Some time?”

Winn shook his head softly; a small encouraging smile appeared on his face. “Don’t worry about it, we just have to work a few things out in our heads but we’ll be behind you always. Look I’ll go talk to Jimmy and you should go rest.”

“Thank you Winn,” Kara said letting out a sigh of relief, “Friends?”

Winn chuckled at her words, but nodded, pulling her in for a hug. “Always.”


End file.
